Things that make me...

Happy:

Alice Kathryn Elisabeth--

"Out with my bestie of 26 years — with Julia Jackson McCready

at Second Chance Saloon."

Sad:

A former student's death this week, at the age of ten, of a chronic illness.

The loss of a high school student to an apparent suicide.

The emotional toll on affected teachers, including my husband.

Fearful:

My younger daughter's discovery of "Sam and Cat" Fan Fiction. Will she enter a fantasy world and never come out?

Puzzled:

The new signs at the Oakland Mills Village Center look great. But does the one near the Interfaith Center seem to be at an odd angle or in an odd place to you? Or is it just me?

Angry:

Cutting off food benefits to hungry families who have no clout in government to fight back is no way to save money.

Proud:

Last night's Blog Party at the Second Chance Saloon made me realize that the Howard County Bloggers are so much bigger, deeper, and wiser than any brand.

Grateful:

Watching people I know and love turn their lives around, get back on their feet, make new lives for themselves. Each step, each moment of success.

A wedding invitation from two friends who participated in our wedding almost fourteen years ago who are now able to enjoy those same legal rights and want to include us in their joy.

“A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on.” --Carl Sandburg

Well, so is rebirth, and the choice to love and go on loving. To take the gift of life and take the scary steps to live anew.

That's what's in my mind and in my heart this morning.

hocoblogs@@@

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Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents. When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday. Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018. 2018 . But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest. In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...

Separate and Unequal

Remember “Separate but equal”? Remember how that really meant that Black schools languished in broken-down buildings without adequate heat or toilet facilities, with cast-off, ragged learning materials, underfunded and largely ignored? The Supreme Court struck that down in 1954. The evidence was clear that separate was not equal. Plessy v Ferguson had led to - - no, endorsed - - deeply unequal schooling and opportunities. We tend to think of Brown v Board as being purely about racial integration. It was not. It was about the logical consequences of segregation. And they were not, not, not equal. The ruling in 1954 didn’t transform public education for non-whites into a land of milk and honey by any means. But it articulated some essential truths in a way that made including everyone a legal precedent which could be relied upon and built upon. It was better than what came before it but it rested upon unsteady ground. It did not necessarily change the hearts or minds ...

Village Green/Town²

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